Dominion construction site that turned Lake Shawnee brown not in compliance with permits
VENN
POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Documents obtained by 8News show a Dominion Energy construction site in Powhatan County has not been in compliance with its construction general permit. Oversights have left Lake Shawnee residents with a murky view.
The issues arose in March after runoff clay from the construction site on Anderson Highway rolled into the lake and turned the water brown.
Courtesy of Michael Pease.
Luckily, documents from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) inspection report said Dominion’s stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP), stormwater that caused runoff to initially turn the lake water brown, is in compliance.
One resident who spoke to 8News about this said he can tell Dominion is working hard to fix this once and for all, and is optimistic. He said the color of the water has improved immensely.
But the DEQ said there are 15 items on the site that need to be fixed are not in compliance with the construction permit.
DEQ said the site is not in compliance with the approved erosion and sediment control plan and stormwater management plans.
DEQ's inspection reports
The reports also said earthen structures weren't stabilized immediately after installation,
sediment traps and basins weren't installed in accordance with the approved plan,
finished cut and fill slopes weren't adequately stabilized to prevent or correct excessive erosion,
concentrated runoff flowing down cut or fill slopes were not contained in an adequate permanent or temporary channel or structure and there were not adequate drainage or other protection is provided for water seeps.
DEQ's inspection report
Since an inspection on March 14, DEQ said Dominion made various corrective actions including stabilizing efforts around basins which trap rainwater, hopefully preventing the runoff issue from happening again.
“Dominion is providing weekly corrective action status updates to DEQ," the department said in the April report. "Any outstanding corrective actions will be addressed in a pending DEQ enforcement action.”
8News is working to get the most recent documents from the DEQ about the weekly check-ins.
